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Write those answers down, share them with everyone who may need them, and practice them. FEMA’s core warning is simple: “Your family may not be together when a hurricane occurs, so it is important to know how to contact one another and how to get back together.”
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1. Start with local evacuation information
Federal guidance can explain how to prepare, but only local authorities can tell you which evacuation zone, roads, shelters, transportation services, and orders apply to your address. Before hurricane season, identify your local emergency-management agency and your state Department of Transportation. Save their websites, alert-registration pages, phone numbers, and official social-media accounts.
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Identify your evacuation zone
Many coastal jurisdictions use numbered or lettered evacuation zones; some communities use a different system. Enter your home address on the local government’s official map and record the zone in your written plan. If your area does not publish zones, record the local criteria used to order evacuations, such as a specific neighborhood, flood area, or road corridor.
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Collect several official routes
Choose at least two routes away from the threatened area and a third alternative if local officials publish one. Note major landmarks and where the routes join larger roads. Do not rely on a single navigation app: flooding, bridge closures, contraflow operations, or emergency restrictions can make a normally convenient road unusable. Before leaving, follow the current route and timing instructions from local authorities rather than an old printed map.
2. Decide where you will go before an order
Choose a primary destination outside the danger area and a backup. This may be a relative’s home, a hotel, or another prearranged place. Ask the host in advance whether the entire household can stay, for how long, and what supplies or accessibility features are available.
Check access and functional needs
Confirm that each destination works for people who use wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen, communication devices, refrigeration for medication, service animals, or other support. Check entrances, bathrooms, sleeping arrangements, power availability, and transportation access. If a family member receives home-care services, ask the provider or personal support network how evacuation and continuity of care will work.
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Plan for a shelter option
Identify a general shelter and an accessible shelter option if your community lists them. Shelter locations and operating status can change during a storm. Check the local emergency-management agency immediately before departure. The FEMA app can help locate nearby shelters and provides National Weather Service alerts for up to five locations, but it does not replace current local instructions.
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Verify pet and service-animal arrangements
Ask your destination and any shelter whether pets are accepted and under what rules. Many facilities distinguish between household pets and service animals. Keep veterinary records, medications, food, carriers, leashes, waste bags, bowls, and identification with the animal. Arrange a backup caregiver if you could be away when an evacuation order arrives; never leave an animal behind because a destination was not checked in advance.
3. Set departure triggers and household responsibilities
Write down who makes which decisions and what event starts each action. An official evacuation order is the controlling instruction; your household may also choose an earlier trigger, such as a forecast that threatens your route or a need for extra travel time.
Assign specific jobs
- Information lead: monitors official alerts and confirms the current route and destination.
- People lead: accounts for children, older adults, people with disabilities, and anyone needing transport or medication.
- Pet lead: gathers animals, carriers, records, food, and medication.
- Vehicle lead: checks fuel, tires, emergency equipment, and loading order.
- Communication lead: carries the paper contact card and checks in with the out-of-town contact.
Assign a backup person for every job. A single adult should not be the only person who knows the route, medication list, or school pickup authorization.
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Ask schools, childcare providers, workplaces, and caregivers for their emergency procedures. Record who is authorized to pick up each child and where that person must show identification. Ensure household members know how they will receive school, workplace, and local emergency notifications. Include an arrangement for a child or dependent adult who cannot travel with the first available household member.
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4. Build a communication and reunification plan
Choose an out-of-town contact who can act as a central relay. A person outside the affected area may be easier for separated relatives to reach. Ask that person to keep a current list of household members, destinations, medical or access needs, and alternate contacts.
Use three meeting points
- Immediate home meeting point: a safe location outside the building, such as a neighbor’s property or another place everyone recognizes.
- Neighborhood meeting point: a location reachable if the home is inaccessible.
- Out-of-area meeting point: a landmark or facility near the destination where the household can reunite.
Choose places that are not likely to be inside a flood zone or blocked by the same hazard as your home. Tell everyone when to go to each point and who has authority to change the plan.
Record contacts on paper
Print a wallet-size card for every household member and place a full copy in each go bag and vehicle. Include names, mobile and landline numbers, the out-of-town contact, meeting points, school and caregiver numbers, medical contacts, allergies, medications, and the destination address. FEMA advises keeping important numbers written down because a phone may be unavailable, lost, uncharged, or unable to access its contact list.
Use redundant communication methods
Voice calls may be difficult when networks are congested. Try a short text message, which may send when a voice call cannot, and use the agreed social-media or messaging channel if your household has one. Keep messages brief: identify yourself, state your location and condition, and say where you are going. Do not assume a sent message was read; continue to the next agreed method.
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| Method | Plan for it | Limitation to explain to the household |
|---|---|---|
| Voice call | Use for urgent two-way conversation when service is available. | May fail or be delayed when networks are overloaded. |
| Text message | Use a short check-in to the out-of-town contact. | Delivery can be delayed; it is not a guarantee of immediate contact. |
| Messaging or social platform | Choose one familiar channel and keep account access available. | Requires a charged device and data or Wi-Fi access. |
| Paper card | Carry contacts, destinations, meeting points, and responsibilities. | Must be updated whenever information changes. |
5. Set up multiple warning channels
Turn on Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on every compatible phone. Register for your county, city, or state text and email alerts, and subscribe to school or workplace notifications. Consider a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards for a dedicated alert source, especially if mobile service or power is unreliable. Keep spare batteries or another approved power option for the radio.
The FEMA app can provide National Weather Service alerts for up to five locations. Add your home, destination, and locations where household members regularly spend time. Treat every app, radio, and notification as an awareness channel; follow the current evacuation direction from local officials.
Test the alert setup
- Confirm that each phone’s emergency-alert setting is enabled.
- Complete local alert registration for every relevant jurisdiction.
- Verify that school, childcare, workplace, and caregiver notifications go to the right people.
- Place the weather radio where it can be heard and test its power source.
- Ask each household member what an evacuation warning or order means and what action follows.
6. Account for medical, disability, and caregiving needs
List every person’s practical requirements rather than assuming one household member can improvise for another. Include prescription and over-the-counter medicines, dosage instructions, medical records, mobility aids, hearing or vision devices, communication equipment, batteries, chargers, oxygen or other equipment, continence supplies, and comfort items.
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People who need accessible transportation, assistance transferring, medication schedules, or frequent rest may need to leave before general traffic worsens. Ask healthcare providers, case managers, home-care agencies, or a personal support network what assistance is available and how it will continue away from home. Record transportation providers and backup contacts in the paper plan.
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Protect critical equipment
Keep essential equipment together with its power cords, adapters, instructions, and backup power. Label devices and bags with the owner’s name and contact information. If equipment requires electricity, identify where it can be charged at the destination and what to do if power is unavailable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.7. Prepare go bags and the vehicle
Keep an easy-to-carry bag for each person, plus shared household supplies. Tailor contents to the length of travel, medical needs, weather, children, older adults, pets, and local guidance.
Core go-bag contents
- Paper contact cards, destination details, route notes, identification, and copies of important documents.
- Medications, medical supplies, mobility or communication devices, chargers, and batteries.
- Water and snacks suited to the household.
- First-aid supplies, a flashlight, and spare batteries.
- Several changes of clothing, sturdy footwear, hygiene items, and a blanket.
- Child-care items, glasses, hearing-aid supplies, and comfort items.
- Pet or service-animal food, water, leash or carrier, medications, records, and waste supplies.
Use containers that one person can lift and that remain accessible after loading. Check expiration dates and medication quantities regularly.
Prepare the vehicle
FEMA’s hurricane guidance recommends keeping the fuel tank at least half full. Check tires, fluids, lights, windshield wipers, and the spare tire. Carry bottled water, snacks, a first-aid kit, flashlight, flares, jumper cables, basic tools, a blanket, and a change of clothes. Load medications, paper documents, communication cards, and essential devices where they can be reached quickly, not beneath heavy luggage.
8. Put the plan into a one-page household worksheet
Keep the detailed version digitally and on paper, but make a one-page version that works when phones are unavailable. Fill in local information from official sources and update it after a move, new school year, medication change, or change in household membership.
| Plan item | Write down |
|---|---|
| Home and zone | Address, evacuation zone or local designation, and local emergency-management contact. |
| Routes | Primary, alternate, and backup official routes; hazards or landmarks to watch. |
| Destinations | Primary and backup addresses, host phone numbers, accessibility details, and pet policy. |
| Meeting points | Home, neighborhood, and out-of-area locations. |
| Out-of-town contact | Name, mobile and other numbers, location, and instructions for relaying check-ins. |
| People and care | Authorized child pickups, caregiver contacts, transport arrangements, medications, and equipment. |
| Pets and service animals | Animal contacts, records, medications, carriers, and accepted destinations. |
| Alerts | WEA status, local alert enrollment, weather-radio location, and school/work notifications. |
| Responsibilities | Primary and backup person for information, people, pets, vehicle, and communications. |
9. Practice before hurricane season
A plan that exists only in one adult’s phone is not a household plan. Give every member a copy or age-appropriate version. Walk through the route to the vehicle, loading order, pet handling, meeting points, and the first check-in to the out-of-town contact.
Run realistic drills
- Practice receiving an alert and identifying whether it is a watch, warning, or evacuation instruction.
- Have each person locate their paper contact card and go bag.
- Practice leaving without relying on a navigation app.
- Simulate a separated household: one person sends the agreed check-in while another goes to the meeting point.
- Repeat with a blocked primary route, unavailable vehicle, or a family member needing extra assistance.
After each exercise, correct unclear instructions, missing supplies, outdated numbers, or tasks assigned to only one person.
Quick Recap
10. What to do when evacuation is ordered
- Read the official order carefully and identify the affected zone, timing, and route instructions.
- Tell the household and authorized caregivers where everyone is going and when.
- Collect people, pets, medications, equipment, documents, go bags, and vehicle supplies.
- Send the planned check-in to the out-of-town contact before departure if service is available.
- Turn off or secure utilities only as directed by local authorities; do not take actions that create a hazard.
- Leave on the official schedule and route. Do not wait for conditions to become dangerous or for every communication channel to work.
- Send a short arrival message when safe, then conserve battery and continue monitoring official updates.
11. Common planning failures and fixes
- One route: add alternatives from local authorities and understand where flooding or closures could block each one.
- One destination: arrange a backup host or shelter and verify accessibility and animal rules.
- Contacts only in phones: print cards for wallets, go bags, vehicles, and caregivers.
- One person knows the plan: assign backups and practice with the whole household.
- Generic shelter assumptions: confirm current shelter status, accessible services, and pet policies before departure.
- Ignoring extra travel time: plan earlier departure and transportation assistance for people with access or medical needs.
- Unverified alerts: use WEA, local registration, weather radio, and official agency updates together.
- Outdated information: review routes, contacts, medications, school authorizations, and destination arrangements at least before each hurricane season and after any household change.
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